Black and White Wednesday: "Comes the End Time, Chapter 4" by "Richardson" and Alcala

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Has it really been nearly three years since our last look at Alfredo Alcala's Voltar? oops. Well, for your long-suffering Voltar fans, here's "Comes the End Time" part 4 (script adapted by Bill Dubay under his nom de plume "Mike Richardson") from The Rook #5 (August 1980)!

Black and White Wednesday: "Bolt" by Margopoulos and Nino

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! "Bolt" by Rich Margopoulos and Alex Nino made its debut in the first issue of Warren's Rook mag (August 1979) and looked for all the world like the start of an ongoing series. Well, as far as Ol' Groove can deduce, t'was the only appearance of Jason Bolt, and that's a shame, 'cause his was a cool concept. Now, as was the wont for Warren mags at the time, author Margopoulos loaded "Bolt" with text, and Nino was allowed to go totally bananas on the layouts with the true "wide-screen" double-page spreads (competing with Heavy Metal, y'think?), and the level of detail Nino puts into these pages is mind-boggling. It's an amazing strip to look at (design-wise, especially), but really hard to read...but Teen Groove thought it was worth the effort and enjoyed it even more than the Rook tale that fronted the mag (sorry Bill DuBay and Lee Elias)...

Black and White Wednesday: "Comes the End Time, Chapter 3" by Richardson and Alcala

You say you want more Voltar, Groove-ophiles? Then more Voltar you'll get!! Here's Chapter 3 of "Comes the End Time" by Alfredo Alcala (scripted by "Will Richardson" aka Warren editor Bill Dubay) from The Rook #4 (cover-dated August 1980). Can you dig it?

Black and White Wednesday: "Comes the Endtime Chapter 2" by Richardson and Alcala

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Well, what it actually is is waaaay too long since we last checked out a chapter of Alfredo Alcala's magnificent Voltar strip as presented in Warren's The Rook magazine! How long has it been? About this long! Anywho, today's chapter (scripted by Will Richardson) comes from The Rook #3 (April 1980) and it's right here, right now. Dig it!!

Black and White Wednesday: "Comes the End Time" by Richardson and Alcala

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! The last great mag turned out by Warren during the Groovy Age was The Rook. What made it great for Teen Groove, though, was not the lead/title feature (though I truly dug it), but the inclusion Alfredo Alcala's classic hero Voltar as a back-up strip. Now, at the time, I'd read about Voltar in Maurice Horn's The World Encyclopedia of Comics and I'd seen Alcala's work in places like DC's mystery mags and Marvel's various Conan comics, so I knew what to expect. Or so I thought. When I flipped to "Comes the End Time" (scripted by Will Richardson aka Bill Dubay) in The Rook #2 (cover-dated February 1980), I was blown away. I knew about Alcala's lush inks, his feathery line that made his characters look more like three-dimensional statues than drawings. But the full- and double-page spreads, the amount of eye-boggling detail--I wasn't ready for that. Are you?